Okage: Shadow King
Developer: Zener Works *'Publisher': SCEI *'Director': Noriyuki Henmi *'Release Date': (JP) March 15, 2001 (NA) October 3, 2001 *'Genre': RPG *'Modes': Single player *'Rating': ESRB: T CERO: A *'Platform': PlayStation 2 *'Media': CD-ROM Okage: Shadow King, also known in its home country of Japan as Boku to Maoh (ボクと魔王 Boku to Maō, literally "Me and the Devil King") is a cult classic video game released only for the PlayStation 2. Although often regarded as a mediocre game by critics it is truly loved by its few fans. This game follows the storybook-esque tale of Ari, an ordinary boy who lives in the backwater town of Tenel. He's often disregarded or verbally abused by his friends and neighbors for having an overshadowed personality. But one day his father passes the circus on his way home from work and stumbles across a strange bottle. This history obsessed man believes it to be the bottle of Pollack, an ancient sorcerer and takes it home. Although at first dismissed as just another bottle by the rest of the family one day Ari's sister, Annie, succumbs to a ghost's curse forcing them to seek its help. Trapped inside the bottle is "The Great Evil King" Stanley Hihat Trinidad XVI; or Stan for short. After awakening he takes residence in Ari's shadow, allowing him to project himself as a shadow into the physical world and communicate with people. Shortly after this they discover that there are multiple Evil Kings located around the world, and even a "Map o' Evil Kings" which documents all their current locations. Enraged by the supposed imposters, he decides to have Ari go out on a journey with the goal of destroying all of these "Fake Evil Kings". Ari, being the quiet, overshadowed boy he is, has no choice but to agree. Plot summary The story begins with an ordinary boy named Ari who lives in Tenel village. The next night, the circus comes to town. That same night, his sister is attacked by a ghost and falls under a curse. The family turns to a bottle Ari's father found for help, performing a ritual to invoke the power sealed within the bottle. Upon opening the bottle, Ari allows his shadow to be possessed by "The Evil King Stan", who was trapped in the bottle, in order to break his sister's curse. Stan and Ari obtain a "Map o' Evil Kings" from a circus ringmaster, which shows the locations of other Evil Kings in the world. Stan realizes that while he was trapped in the bottle, various people stole his powers and became false Evil Kings. Stan starts off on a journey to defeat these Evil Kings, reclaim his stolen powers and conquer the world—dragging Ari along with him. In the city of Madril Ari teams up with Rosalyn, a parasol wielding "hero", and defeats the Sewer Evil King. Upon leaving town they meet up with the scientist Gutten Kisling. In the seaside town Rashelo Princess Marlene sailed to Aquatic Ruins to acquire "Heaven's Voice". The Princess is seized by the Bubble Evil King, a giant fish-monster. After defeating the evil king and rescuing Marlene Stan attempts to use his powers to possess her, but fails. Stan believes this is due to her having no soul. Returning to Madril, a strange corporation has been making underhanded deals and cheating townspeople out of their money. Further investigation leads to an office building where the Chairman Evil King is in charge. The trio face him in his office, but he escapes. They head to the Escapeless Abyss and defeat him. The group next discover and defeat the Big Bull Evil King, a muscle-bound bull. In Madril, the group discovers that people are now extremely obsessed with Teen Idol Evil King Linda's songs. The group travels to a snow-bound plains to defeat her. Various machine components from the defeated evil kings are combined into a music box, which breaks a seal in the sewers. In the back of the sewer, Ari steps into a mysterious machine which seems to make him fade from existence. Everyone seems to have forgotten about him, and is ignoring the fact that he ever existed. Ari discovers that his condition is not unique; the town of Triste is full of people like himself. By speaking up enough in other people's conversations (despite being "invisible"), the circus ringmaster is able to restore Ari into existence. After reuniting with all party members they confront the Phantom Evil King Epros in the gear tower in the desert. It is revealed that "Princess" Marlene is actually just a doll made to look like the original Marlene, who disappeared a long time ago. Beiloune is actually her father and the creator of the world the game takes place in. He created the world to let his daughter have fun, but he lost her and became obsessed with the doll. He plans to destroy the world that defied him and ruined his daughter's adventures. The final of Beiloune's fake evil kings, the Vampire Evil King, is defeated. At the world library Beiloune attempts to classify Rosalyn and Stan into hero and villain in order to make them destroy each other. Ari uses the music box, which contains recorded memories of their true selves, to break the two free of Beiloune's classification. The heroes confront and defeat Beiloune, who had become a giant monster to destroy them. His defeat destroys the world's classification system, frees the true Marlene, and makes Stan a true Evil King again. Afterwards, Ari reunites with Marlene at his house and they hold hands as they enter the house. Gameplay The player proceeds through the game by visiting towns, traveling across the overworld and exploring dungeons. The game contains warp pillars that can be used to quick travel to other locations once they have been discovered. The combat is similar to that of many Role Playing games, with characters having health points (HP) and magic points (MP). Battles generally commence when the player touches an enemy on the overworld. In addition to party members engaging in combat, Ari's shadow Stan, although not playable, may use powerful magic attacks on the enemy. Each fight is turned based, and a character can opt to wait in order to perform a more powerful combo attack with other characters. Characters have innate elements that are visible to the player during battle. This determines the types of spells they learn and what spells are strong against which enemies (for instance, lightning magic is strong against ice characters). If at any time during battle the main character, Ari, is defeated it is game over. Characters 'Ari' The main protagonist of the game. A quiet, 16-year-old boy with an overshadowed destiny. His shadow is so thin, that most people ignore him and it is what enables Stan to take him as his slave. Seems to be without note, but... He reluctantly takes on the responsibility of being enslaved by the Evil King Stan in order to save his sister from the ghost's curse—and once that's done, to save the world from the Fake Evil Kings and restore Stan's true power. In the beginning of the story, his weapon is a branch. He obtains a sword, which is upgradeable, as he progresses through the game. In the Japanese version, his eyes are wide open. They were toned down in the US version. 'Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV' Better known as Evil King Stan, or just Stan, he possesses Ari's shadow to appear in this world. He is short-tempered and has a childish personality, but has moments where he picks up on things that even the other group members miss. He has built his identity on being evil and desires to be feared by the world as the Great Evil King. He claims to be the reincarnation of, and therefore the heir to, the Great Evil King Gohma, who was defeated by the Great Hero Hopkins three hundred years previous to the story. Apparently, Hopkins also sealed Stan away into a bottle, which is found by Ari's father. 'James' The cheerful ghost butler to the Evil King Stan. He is seen quite a few times in the game, mostly with just info on things you should know about, but he is often too preoccupied with something (or someone) else to follow his "almighty" master's orders. 'Rosalyn' Rosalyn is a 22-year-old heroine, a master of the rapier and the reluctant devotee of the parasol. She and Stan have a history of conflict which began upon releasing him from his bottle three years previous to the game's beginning; Stan took over her shadow for just long enough to insult her figure and her to threaten to kill herself (thus killing him), before he retreated back into the bottle. Rosalyn used to be an elite hero and was at the top of her class, but ever since her shadow became pink she has been a laughing-stock and forced to hide her shameful shadow under a parasol. She never forgave Stan for this mockery and has hunted for him ever since. She feels she needs to prove her strength and skill as an expert swordswoman and caster of spells. She is also a magnet for ghosts. 'Gutten Kisling' An extremely eccentric scientist who has devoted his life to the ghost research, while enjoying such hobbies as stalking pretty girls and collecting toenail clippings. Upon meeting the party, he is enticed by Rosalyn's ability to attract ghosts and joins the quest without a single party member's approval. Despite his behavior, the forty-five-year-old Kisling seems to be quite intelligent, and he wields powerful offensive magic. 'Princess Marlene' A spoiled princess, she is snobbish and pompous before truly getting to know Ari and his family. Later in the game the player finds out that the Marlene they know is actually a doll, and that the real Marlene's body is trapped elsewhere in the world of her father's creation. She also seems to be Ari's love interest, as they are,seen holding hands in the ending. 'Big Bull' Formerly the "Big Bull Evil King", a fighter with great physical strength who loves exercise and battle. He excitedly joins Ari's party to help defeat the other evil kings after he, himself, is defeated. His dream is to someday open his own athletic gym. His idiotic and unwitting personality disagrees with Rosalyn and Stan but he's too cheerful and loving of the party to notice or care. He has a crush on Linda. 'Linda' She is an aspiring singer from Madril who unfortunately lacks talent so later uses Stan's stolen power to become the "Teen Idol Evil King" and loved by her brainwashed fans. Though she is somewhat subdued when Ari first meets her, after she joins the party her truly cheery and very bubbly personality comes out. initially, she seemed to have a crush on Ari, but it is later discovered that she actually had a crush on Stan who just happened to have the "dorky" "doll", Ari, attached to him. Further down the line, Linda's crush on Stan seems to fade in favor of one blossoming for the reluctant Epros. She attacks using her microphone as a weapon and supports the party with magical chants. 'Epros' Using Stan's power, he is known as the "Phantom Evil King" and throws playing cards and casts magic to attack his enemies. He is sophisticated and well dressed, though his interests in magic and the "truth" of the world, as well as his ability to float about and his strange speech pattern make him as peculiar as the rest of the cast. He always speaks in rhyme and with Shakespearean words, which confuses the team and annoys Stan to no end. Like the other "Evil King" party members, Epros joins the group after he is defeated, late in the game. Epros is the main love interest of Linda, but only after she gets over Stan. 'Beiloune' The main antagonist and final boss in the game. He disguises himself as Princess Marlene's Butler but is in fact her father. He is responsible for the classification system and creation of the world in which the game takes place. Fake Evil Kings 'Sewer Evil King' A giant Rat, who joins the circus after being defeated. He resides in the sewer system of Madril. 'Bubble Evil King' A giant fish who resides in the Aquatic Ruins. He holds the princess hostage. 'Chairman Evil King' A big, greasy businessman who resigns his position in Madril and later goes to the Escapeless Abyss. 'Big Bull Evil King' A large, muscular bull. He resides in the Big Tree Hole. After you defeat him, he joins your party. 'Teen Idol Evil King' Her name is Linda. She resides in the Sealed Cave. After you defeat Linda, she joins your team. 'Phantom Evil King' His name is Epros. He periodically shows up to intimidate the heroes and speaks in riddles. He resides in the Gear Tower. 'Vampire Evil King' A strange vampire that terrorizes the Highlands. He resides in a house that appears only at night. 'Circus Evil King' Once an evil king, he is the circus ringmaster Ari meets early in the game, when he gives you a copy of the Map O' Evil Kings. It is later revealed that he surrendered his magical powers to the Sewer Evil King, freeing him of his status of "evil king".